


Fire of the World

by WinterChild98



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-03 12:23:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15818811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterChild98/pseuds/WinterChild98
Summary: Keith is 12 years old when he first meets Shiro, and it changes his life forever, but then Shiro goes missing. Kicked out of his home Keith is determined to find the truth about what happened at Kerberos, the Northern most outpost of the kingdom. He quickly finds himself involved in a war spanning centuries, and something he always believed to be impossible is suddenly within his reach, becoming a dragon rider.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a brand new story that I've only just started writing. Right now I only have a rough idea of where this is going. All dragon breeds mentioned are completely made up by me and not borrowed from anything. Once again chapters will be posted as I write them.

Keith took off running. It was stupid, he knew it was stupid, but he did it anyway. He just couldn’t leave his knife behind. It was all he had, the only connection to his family. Keith swore as the guards were getting closer, he didn’t know the layout of the palace, not like he knew the streets of Saja.

“Thief!” The guards yelled as they chased him through the corridors. Keith swerved around people, pushing them out of the way if he had to, he couldn’t afford to be polite. The guards were big and bulky, dressed in armour, all he needed was to find somewhere small enough that they couldn’t fit through, but he could.

A couple guards suddenly appeared in front of him, Keith kept running, as he got near to the guards, he dropped to the ground, sliding between them. In one smooth motion he got up and turned a corner, he had just bought himself a few seconds, he had to make the best of them. He turned into the closest room, only to bump into a wall he quickly realized was a person.

Hands grabbed his shoulders. “Whoa.” A voice said.

“Let go of me!” Keith demanded. He had to get away before he was caught.

“In here.” The voice said before shoving Keith into what he assumed was a closet.

Keith could hear a couple guards enter the room, it was muffled, but it sounded like they were asking whoever shoved him in here if they had seen him. This was it, Keith thought, this was where the stranger told the guards exactly where to find him.

“I haven’t seen anyone go by here.” Keith was shocked. The stranger had helped him. Why would anyone help him?

The door opened, Keith pressed himself as far back into the closet as he could. “The guards are gone now, you can come out.” The stranger spoke gently. Now the Keith wasn’t being chased by guards he could get a good look at the stranger. He was tall with dark hair and eyes, wearing fine clothes, a nobleman maybe.

“Who are you?” Keith demanded, holding his knife out in front of him, pressing as far as he could into the closet.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” The stranger spoke, holding his hands out to show he was unarmed. “My name is Takashi Shirogane, but you can just call me Shiro.”

“Why did you help me?” There was no way Keith was putting down the knife. This Shiro must have had some ulterior motive for helping him.

“Guards were calling you a thief, a kid you age, my guess is you stole food, or you stole something, so you could buy food. And looking at you just confirms my thoughts, you’re not a criminal, just a hungry kid.”

“What do you want from me?” Keith demanded.

“You were a kid in trouble. I just wanted to help.” Shiro spoke giving Keith a small smile.

Keith frowned, “Nobody just wants to help.” He kept is knife pointed at Shiro, unsure if he could trust him.

“I do.” Shiro looked at him, looked at his knife. “You’re holding your dagger wrong. If you wanted, you could come back tomorrow, and I could show you a few things. Maybe some basic self defense so you’ll get less bruises”

Keith stared at Shiro in shocked. Helping him get away from guards was one thing, but teaching him how to fight? “What’s the catch?” Shiro had to want something from him, maybe he won’t show it until tomorrow, but Keith didn’t believe he just wanted to help.

“No catch. Just me teaching you some basic fighting skills.” Shiro sounded so sincere. Keith studied him, trying to figure if there was something wrong with Shiro, or if he was just stupid.

“What?” Shiro asked, noticing Keith’s look.

“Nothing.” Keith responded quickly, he wanted to avoid angering his rescuer.

“Come on, I’ll show you out.” Shiro backed away from the closet, giving Keith some room. Keith cautiously began to make his way out of the closet. Shiro made no move to attack him, or anything to prove that he was anything but honest.

“What’s your name?” Shiro asked as he began to lead Keith out of the castle.

“Keith.” He didn’t say anything else the rest of the way out of the castle.

“Meet me here at 10 am tomorrow, and I’ll show you a few things.” Shiro spoke when they reached the front gate. Keith didn’t say anything, he still wasn’t sure if he was actually going to show up.

 

* * *

 

 

This is a really stupid idea, a really really stupid idea. Keith didn’t know what it said about him that he knew this was stupid but was doing it anyway. 10 am and here he was standing outside the castle gates half convinced that Shiro wasn’t going to show up.

“Keith!” Someone called his name, Keith looked around, and there was Shiro waving at him.

“Hi.” Keith said as Shiro approached him.

“Here.” Shiro said tossing something to Keith. Keith caught it and realized it was some bread.

“What’s this?” Keith bristled. “I don’t need your pity.”

“It’s not pity. You probably haven’t had breakfast, and you’ll do better if you don’t have an empty stomach to worry about.” Keith refused to say anything as he started nibbling at the bread, he couldn’t afford to turn down free food, but that doesn’t mean he has to be happy about it.

 

* * *

 

Keith was panting, he couldn’t believe that using a simple dagger could be so complicated. He thought you could just stab people with it. When he said as much, Shiro proceeded to lecture him on the importance of technique. He still wasn’t sure what to think of Shiro, there was no way he was just being nice. He must want something from him. Keith was getting free food out this, as well as self defense training. Keith had made up his mind. He would stick around, and humour Shiro, but he was going to keep Shiro at a distance for when he eventually revealed his true motivation for helping Keith.

 

* * *

 

It’s been two months, two months of Keith going to the castle each day, of Shiro teaching Keith how to fight, and nothing has gone wrong. Keith was convinced that this wasn’t going to last, it couldn’t, nothing in Keith’s life ever went right.

“Lunch break!” Shiro declared, tossing Keith some food. Shiro settled beside Keith underneath a large tree, the only tree in the small out of the way courtyard they were practicing in.

“I can’t be here tomorrow.” Shiro spoke slowly. “I have to show some new recruits around the flight grounds. I promise I’ll be there the day after.

“You’re a dragon rider???” Keith was amazed, he’s never met a dragon rider before, and the only dragons he’s ever seen were drawings, and that one time he saw a dead one. “That’s amazing!”

“Technically I’m still in training, I don’t even have my own dragon yet.” Shiro blushed, rubbing the back of his head.

“Wow.” Keith had so many questions running through his head, but is mouth seemed to be sealed shut.

“If you wanted, I could show you around the flight grounds after lunch.” Shiro said with a small smile.

“Really?” Keith couldn’t suppress the smile that was spreading on his face.

“Yeah, it’ll be like a practice run for tomorrow. I’ve never had to give a tour before.”  
  
“You done kiddo.” Shiro said, ruffling Keith’s hair. Keith nodded while mumbling how he wasn’t a kid. “Then let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

Keith had never seen so many dragons before. This was the best day Keith’s had in a long time. “That’s a Northern Icebelly! I didn’t think they could be found this far south!” Keith pointed at the large light blue dragon, that a woman was feeding large chunks of mystery meat to. “They're the only known dragons in the world that can breathe frost instead of flame. And that’s a Dark Versonian, the largest known dragon in the world, the front claws alone can get up to a foot long!” Keith pointed at another dragon, this one was dark green in colour and clearly larger than the other dragons in the area. Keith gapped in awe, “That’s a Dolarion Firebrand. Only the most skilled riders can ride on of those.”

“Wow.” Shiro had a look of surprise on his face. “You sure know a lot about dragons.”

Keith blushed, embarrassed by his outburst. He trusted Shiro, but he had yet to share much personal information with him. “My dad…” Keith spoke slowly, “He used to tell me how much he wanted to be a dragon rider when he was younger, but we’re not one of the chosen families, so it was never possible. He tried to learn as much about dragons as he could. He hoped that if he learned enough, he could get a job helping to care for them in the palace.”

Shiro gave Keith a small, sad smile. “As soon as I earn my own dragon, I promise to give you a ride.”

“Really?” Keith’s eyes lite up with excitement.

“Yeah.” Shiro said grinning widely. “It’ll be fun.”

 

* * *

 

Keith still isn’t entirely sure how it happened, despite all his efforts to keep Shiro at a distance, to prevent himself from becoming attached, Shiro had quickly become the most important person in his life. Keith had gotten attached, very attached, the worse part was, he didn’t even realize it, not until he arrived at Shiro’s room in the castle, and heard him arguing with someone, arguing about him.

“He’s a common street rat!” Keith heard a man yell, he didn’t recognize the voice.

“So what?” Shiro yelled back. “He’s braver than most of my classmates, not to mention smarter!”

“That doesn’t mean you have to disgrace your family name!!” Keith was scared, he found himself hovering outside the door. What if Shiro decided this angry man was right, that Keith wasn’t worth it. Life without Shiro was unimaginable. Keith may have spent the first twelve years of his life without Shiro in it, and now, almost a year later, the thought that Shiro might leave him made his breath catch in his throat, panic clawing at his insides.

“Like it or not” Shiro was no longer yelling, but his voice was cold and distant, “This is not your decision, and nothing you say will make a difference. I am the sole member of my house, and any personal decision I make is my business, and my business alone. Now I’m going to have to ask you to leave."

Suddenly the door swung open, and Keith had the jump back to avoid being hit. A tall man stormed out, almost as tall as Shiro, he had grey hair, his face was scrunched together in anger. “Move!” The man snarled, shoving Keith out of his way, hard enough that Keith fell to the ground. Normally he would have been able to catch himself, but the panic had made his mind blank.

“Keith!” Shiro’s face had gone from cold and distant to overly concerned in a split second. Shiro rushed over to Keith, his hands going over Keith to make sure he wasn’t hurt.

“Do you have to stop seeing me…” Keith spoke quietly. He should have known this was too good to last.

“No! Of course not!” Shiro looked horrified at the thought. “Some people may not like me spending so much time with you, but they can’t do anything about it, and I don’t care what they think about me. Nothing could make not want to spend time with you.”

Just like that, the panic that had been clawing at Keith’s gut had begun to recede. “Really?” Keith couldn’t quite let himself give in to relief.

“Really.” Shiro said, placing his hands on Keith’s shoulder’s, emphasizing the word. “If anything, I want to spend more time with you.”

Relief flooded through Keith, the tears he had been keeping at bay, slowly began to slip their way down his cheeks. Keith threw himself into Shiro’s arms, and almost instantly he could feel Shiro hugging him tight, running his right hand through Keith’s hair.

“I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you, I promise.” Shiro said softly. “I love you Keith, you’re like a little brother to me.”

That just made Keith cry even harder, “I love you too Shiro,” He managed to mumble into Shiro’s shirt. It was probably a really nice and expensive shirt, but Keith couldn’t bring himself to care about it, and Shiro didn’t seem concerned.

“I want to take you in Keith.” Shiro said quietly. “It’s all right if you say no, the decision is all up to you,” He began rambling before cutting himself off, “Legally you’d be my ward, but I think of it has adopting you as my brother. You could come and live with me, people may not like it, but I don’t care what they think of me. I have no other family, so there’s no one else I have to answer to, not in this matter. It’s all up to you Keith, you don’t have to say yes, you can think about it if you want, or just put it on hold until you’re ready, the offer will always be open.”

“Yes.” Keith whispered, this was better than anything he could have ever imagined. “I want to stay with you.”

 

* * *

 

Keith was pouting, he knew he was pouting and he didn’t care. It has been four years since Keith had officially become Shiro’s ward. Sure, most of the nobles in the palace were uptight and refused to acknowledge him, and if they did it was to insult him, but Keith had Shiro, and that was enough for him. And through Shiro, Keith had managed to befriend Lord Holt, and his son, Matt. Lord Holt, who always insists Keith call him Sam, and Matt were both dragon riders, though Lord Holt (Sam) was the only one to actually have a dragon. Telsha, Sam’s dragon, was a light grey Shadespur and could fly higher than any other dragon at the Garrison. Sam had even taken Keith on a ride on Telsha a few times, it was better then Keith ever imagined it could be. The wind in his hair, nothing but him, the sky, and Telsha, it was amazing. The first time Sam had taken Keith for a ride, he knew he wanted to be a dragon rider, but as much as he wanted it, he knew it could never come true. To be a dragon rider you must come from a family line of dragon riders, and Keith was a nobody from a family of nobodies who got lucky when he met Shiro.

“Why do you have to go?” Keith spoke, flopping onto his bed.

“I’ll only be gone a few months, I’ll be back before you know it.” Shiro tried to reassure Keith.

“Why does it have to be you? You don’t even have a dragon yet.” Keith complained.

“Lord Holt has a dragon, and we only need one for this mission. You know I’m one of the most skilled dragon riders at the Garrison. It’s a huge honour to be chosen for this before I’ve even earned my dragon.”

“That’s not hard.” Keith snorted. “Most of the dragon riders are either idiots or piss off the nobles too often.”

“You say that like I don’t piss of the nobles.” Shiro replied with a laugh.

“Yeah, but you’ve always been good at talking your way out of trouble.” Keith frowned. “Is this mission that important, that you have to leave so soon after finding out about it?”

“Kerberos is the first outpost Drekican has against the Northern barbarians. If it falls, we’ll all be in trouble. We’re just going to check out suspicious activity that’s been happening in the area, if it’s nothing, we’ll go home and that will be the end of it.” Shiro explained.

“And if it is something?”

“We’ll come home and report it. If it’s a big enough threat, the Garrison will send more riders, and since I don’t have a dragon, it’s unlikely I’ll be going with them.” Shiro finishes packing his bag, swinging it over his shoulder.

Keith stands up and speaks quietly, “I don’t want you to go.”

Shiro walks up to Keith, pulling him into a one-armed hug. “I know kiddo, but I don’t have much of a choice.”

“I’m not a kid.” Keith mumbles, he can feel his eyes begin to water, but he manages to keep himself from crying.

“I know.” Shiro replies, kissing the top of Keith’s head. “I’ll be back in a few months.” Shiro gives Keith a small smile before walking out the door.

 

Four months later, the Garrison declares Shiro dead, and Keith’s world shatters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith knows the Garrison is lying, and he's determined to find the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this story, dragons have sort of a psychic bond with their dragon riders that allow them to communicate. If a dragon rider needs to talk to a dragon that isn't their own, they either talk through the other dragon's rider, or through their own dragon. Also not all dragons have riders, most dragons live in the wild without ever having a rider.

“Let go of me!!” Keith yells as he’s manhandled out the castle doors by several guards.

“Lord Shirogane is dead, so you no longer have his protection.” Duke Vearson spoke with a sadistic grin. “I’m denying your right to inherit Lord Shirogane’s belongings and title, it belongs to the crown now, and the King will choose a suitable candidate to take his place. I will not have a street rat besmirching this palace, and this kingdom’s good name. You are banished from the palace, if I ever see you within these walls again, I will have you executed.”

“You’re a sadistic bastard!” Keith yelled at him, only to get punched in the gut for his efforts. Duke Vearson always hated Keith, in fact the Duke was the man Keith heard arguing with Shiro several years ago, the man was always trying to blame Keith for something. Now that Shiro was gone, there was no one to defend him against this man’s false accusations.

Keith was physically tossed onto the ground, and the palace gates were closed behind him. Keith had nothing but the clothes on his back, and his dagger. He’s in an even worse position than he was five years ago, before he met Shiro. It’s been four years since he lived on the streets, and on the streets, four years might as well be four lifetimes.

Keith dusts himself off, before he starts walking, he’s already decided where he’s going to go, the forest at the edge of the city. It was a large forest with lots of local wildlife he could hunt. His father had been a poacher in the forest, so he knew it like that back of his hand. Technically hunting in the forest was illegal without the permission of the king. Fortunately for Keith, this was a law that the guards weren’t all that strict about, you just had to be careful that no one saw you kill an animal in the forest, unless you could trust them not to tell the guards.

Shiro may have been declared dead, but Keith wasn’t fully convinced. Shiro and the Holts had been sending regular reports back to the Garrison, Keith wasn’t supposed to have read them, but he may have broken into Lord Iverson’s office to read some of them. The reports had some pretty strange things in them, but as far as Keith could tell, there had been no reports sent detailing their deaths, in fact the only thing that happened was that the reports stopped coming.

About two months after the reports stopped arriving, the Garrison has declared Shiro and the Holts dead. The worse part was that they blamed Shiro for their deaths. The officially story was that on a flight through a tricky pass in the mountains near Kerberos Shiro made a mistake which distracted Lord Holt and his dragon causing them to crash and die. As far as Keith had been able to tell, there was no proof of this version of events, in fact there was no proof about what really happened at all.  
The Garrison was hiding something, and Keith wasn’t going to let a simple banishment from the palace prevent him from finding what it was.

 

* * *

 

It had taken him about a week, but Keith has finally finished his make-shift shack deep in the forest, where it was unlikely anyone could come across him. It was a lot of work, not to mentioned jarred fingers, scrapes, and make shift building materials, Keith just hoped it was enough to help him stay warm when winter came.

Keith’s next goal was figuring out how to get back into the palace, specifically Lord Iverson’s office. Lord Iverson the head of the Garrison, there should be a copy of all recent reports in his office, a copy of what really happened to Shiro at Kerberos. He should probably have a back up plan for in case he got caught, since he didn’t want to be executed.  
His main problem was avoiding the guards, he knew a rough schedule, and where guards would be from his time living in the palace, but he didn’t go everywhere, and if they changed anything, he was screwed. Getting into the palace was easy people come and go all the time, one more body wouldn’t be a problem. Keith would just have to time it right. If he wasn’t caught, getting out should be just as easy, it all depended on timing. It was the middle part of his trip that he was worried about, the closer he got to Iverson’s office, away from the more public areas of the palace, the less people there will be for him to hide among.

After a month of planning, Keith decided that there was nothing else he could do based on his current information, but to sneak into the palace. As it turned out, sneaking into the palace was just as easy as he predicted it to be. Duke Vearson was arrogant enough that he thought simply declaring Keith banished would be enough to keep him out, several guards looked at Keith directly, and had no idea who he was.

Keith made he was through the palace, walking purposefully so nobody would question him. Anybody who saw him would just assume he was on his way somewhere for something official. It took awhile for Keith to find the right closet, a closet close enough to Iverson’s office that he didn’t have to travel very far once night fell and explaining his presence would be difficult, but in a deserted hallway so no one would spot him going inside.

It was a small closet, there was barely enough room for Keith to fit. Contained within was various planks of wood and other building materials used for simple repair work. Based on the amount of dust coating every surface, it hadn’t been used in a while, which meant it was less likely someone would be opening the door and ruin Keith’s hiding place. Keith did his best to get comfortable, it was going to be a long wait.

 

* * *

 

It was a painfully long wait. Patience had never been Keith’s strong suit, and he could never sit still for long. Keith was constantly shifting, changing his position, as quietly as possible. At least the hallway didn’t seem to be used very often, he only counted five people walking by the entire time he was hiding. It seemed like forever, but eventually the sun began to set, the light shining under the door grew fainter and fainter until everything was pitch black. Even then Keith waited an additional hour before making his way out of the closet.

Keith stretched, glad to be free of the confining space. “I hope I neve have to hide in a closet again.” He murmured under his breath.

Keith slowly began to make his way towards Iverson’s office, mindful of every corner he turned, checking for guards before stepping into the nest hallway. It was late enough that his presence would be hard to explain, especially in this area, where all the Garrison offices were kept.

“Shit.” Keith swore. He had rounded the corner, only to realize there was a light on in Iverson’s office. The workaholic must not have left yet. Using the darkness to his advantage, Keith pressed himself into a dark alcove where he would go unnoticed unless someone deliberately looked for him there.

Keith had only been there for a few minutes when Iverson rounded the corner at the far end of the hallway. _If Iverson is there… Then who’s in his office?_ Keith found himself wondering. Lord Iverson seemed to have the same thought, spotting the light he rushed towards his office, and threw open the door.

“Guards!!” Iverson yelled loudly, he dragged someone out of his office. It was too dark for Keith to make out any details.

“I know your lying!!” The intruder yelled. “You can’t hide the truth forever! I will find out what really happened to my family!”

Several guards rounded the corner, Keith pressed himself as far back into the little alcove as he could. The guards would be focused on Lord Iverson and the intruder, but Keith didn’t want to take any chances. A couple guards each grabbed an arm of the intruder. “Please escort Miss Holt out of here. I don’t want to see her in the palace again.” Iverson ordered.

Miss Holt was pretty vicious for a Lady, Keith mused, fighting and swearing the entire time the guards dragged her down the hallway. Holt. She must be related to Sam and Matt, Keith quickly realized. He vaguely remembered Matt mentioning a little sister, K-something.

Once the guards left, with Miss Holt in tow, Iverson entered his office, stayed in there a few minutes before going back the way he came. Keith waited, 10 minutes, then 20, trying to figure out if Iverson was coming back. After 30 minutes Keith figured it was safe and ventured out of his hiding spot, towards Iverson’s office. Keith turned the door knob. Locked. Luckily Keith had anticipated this, he had learned to pick locks during his time on the street, and it was a skill he kept up with even after he started living with Shiro. Shiro would roll his eyes every time he caught Keith practicing, but Keith figured it might come in handy some day.

After a few minutes, there was a click, and the door opened. Out of his pocket, Keith slipped out a small oval rock. He blew on it, and a gentle glow began to emanate from it. He still wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but the strange man he saved from a wild bear was rather insistent that Keith would need it.

Iverson was very organized, Keith looked through file after file, skimming for any mention of Kerberos. It took about an hour, but Keith managed to find the file where all the papers about the Kerberos mission were kept, they were all in chronological order. Most of the early reports Keith had already read, but he decided to read through all of them again, not wanting to miss anything.

 

_Commander,_

_As of late there have been many strange occurrences happening in Kerberos and the surrounding mountains. For the past fortnight, strange lights have lite up the sky as soon as the sun sets, appearing to originate somewhere in the mountains. I have sent men to investigate, but only one returned, babbling and insane. The night watch has also mentioned seeing a hooded figure who vanishes in the blink of an eye. Each time this figure is spotted, the next morning we find one of my men dead, throat having been slit in the middle of the night, the watch having seen no one enter the quarters. Doubling and tripling the night watch as done nothing, without fail, every time the hooded figure is spotted, someone ends up dead with no one seeing a thing. Just yesterday one of the newer recruits came to me with tales of a dragon, normally I would pass this off as a new recruit’s overactive imagination, but with all the strange things happening, I can’t help but think they’re connected. We’re boarder guards, not equipped to handle this situation, I am officially requesting a dragon rider be sent over to investigate._

_Sincerely,_  
_Captain Lovelend_

 

All Keith knew was that suspicious activity was happening near Kerberos, he didn’t expect it to have been quite so… Strange. What the captain reported sounds like it came from a story parents tell their children, not real life. Shiro must have known the details, so why didn’t he tell Keith? This more then ‘suspicious activity’, it was just plain weird.

 

_Lord Iverson,_

_The journey to Kerberos was uneventful, we ran into no trouble, everything seemed perfectly ordinary. Upon arriving at the outpost, it was clear that whatever’s been happening has been frightening everyone near by. The soldiers are all sleep deprived and jumpy, Captain Lovelend was very grateful for our presence. Tomorrow morning we’ll be taking Telsha out to the mountains to see if we can find any evidence of the strange occurrences occurring here._

_Sincerely,_  
_Lord Holt_

_Lord Iverson,_

_We searched the mountains for source of the mysterious lights, we have found scorch marks in various places all along the mountain side. Telsha informed me that dragons have been in this area recently, but they have been tainted by something. She couldn’t go into details, as she has never encountered something like this before. We have found no evidence of camps or any location the mysterious hooded figure may be coming from. Tonight, Lord Shirogane will be staying up with the night watch to see if the hooded figure appears._

_Sincerely,_  
_Lord Holt_

 

_Lord Iverson,_

_The hooded figure made an appearance last night. Lord Shirogane was the first to spot the figure, upon spotting it, he ordered the night watch to wake everyone in the barracks. As per his orders Lord Shirogane never once looked away from the figure. He reported that for several minutes, it just stood there, not doing anything. When the figure vanished, it didn’t even move, Lord Shirogane reports that he didn’t even blink, the figure just vanished. Nobody got anymore sleep, and in the morning, one of the guards assigned to the morning watch was found dead in a supply cupboard, throat slashed like all the other victims. I spoke to Telsha, to see if she felt anything unusual last night. She told me that some dark energy came in the middle of the night, appearing and disappearing suddenly, this must have been the hooded figure._

_Sincerely,_  
_Lord Holt_

_Lord Iverson,_

_It’s been a week since we first arrived, and we are no closer to solving his mystery. The lights appear every night in the sky, and when we go there the next morning, there are scorch marks on every surface, clear evidence of dragons. The hooded figure has appeared once more during this time, with the same result as last time. It has quickly become evident that everything in the area has slowly been growing sick. At first I thought the illness plaguing the guards was simply due to sleep depravation, but a close examination of the area shows that everything is getting sick. On our journeys to the mountains we have encountered many sick and dying animals, where the only thing we could do was put them out of their misery. Today, my son noted that even the plants seem to be unwell. They are no longer as green as when we first arrived, many have leaves turning a sickly yellow. If I didn’t know better, I would say there is a curse in this land._

_Sincerely,_  
_Lord Holt_

 

_Lord Iverson,_

_Telsha has become agitated as of late. I have tried to find out what was upsetting her, but all that she would tell me was that there was something wrong with this place. The longer I spend here, the more drained I feel, I can tell that the others feel the same way, I’m not sure how much longer we can remain in this place. I feel as if we have stumbled into something we’re woefully underprepared for, something that we do not understand._

_Sincerely,_  
_Lord Holt_

_Lord Iverson,_

_The hooded figure made an appearance last night, and Lord Shirogane decided to approach it, as observing from the walls was not getting anywhere. The figure remained in its spot as Lord Shirogane approached, but once Lord Shirogane got close enough to touch, the hooded figure attacked. It didn’t use a dagger or sword, or any other weapon I’ve ever seen. Lord Shirogane was attacked with purple lightning, his right arm has been terribly injured. I fear he may lose it. It is worth noting that the hooded figure did not kill anyone after attacking Lord Shirogane, it simply disappeared._

_Sincerely,_  
_Lord Holt_

 

This was the last report Sam had sent to Lord Iverson, after this there was nothing. Keith hated to think about what happened to Shiro, that he got hurt bad enough that he might lose his arm. Shiro was all right, he had to be. If the Garrison won’t look for Shiro, then Keith will, no matter how long it takes. The last report was written by a scouting party that went to investigate Kerberos after there’d been two months with no contact.

 

_Lord Iverson,_

_We have reached Kerberos. It is like nothing I’ve every seen before. The outpost is completely deserted, not a soul in sight. There are no bodies, but there’s food in the storage room, clothes, boots, and other personal belongings left behind. Everything in the area is dead. The ground is black, as are all the plants in the area, animals lay decomposing all over the mountain forest which is all dead, all black and barren. I don’t know what caused all this, but nothing has survived. It appears as if the guards, Lords Holt, Holt, and Shirogane have simply vanished into thin air, much like the reports of the hooded figure. We didn’t stay in the area, we camped in a small clearing near the edge of the living forest. The next morning, we found Telsha. She was in an area of living forest, but there was a circle of dead plants all around her, as if she was contaminating them. Many of the men refused to go near her. Gardi communicated with her to find out what had happened, she told Gardi that they had been captured, and that the others were still alive. Captured by who, she did not share before collapsing._

_Sincerely,_  
_Sargent Gloveled_

 

They were alive, and these reports confirmed it. Shiro was obviously in a lot of trouble, but he was alive, and the Garrison knew this, but lied anyway. Keith was going to find him.

 

_Lord Iverson,_

_We have put Telsha in the isolation ward as requested, her injuries have healed, but for reasons we can’t explain, she is slowly dying. She may not have long left._

  
_\- Healer Rockberge_

 

Telsha was here, she was sick, but she was here. Keith had to see her, not only had she become a friend of his in the years he lived here, but she was the only lead he had on what happened to Shiro. Keith had never been to the dragon isolation ward, but he knew where it was. Right now, was the perfect time to go, it would be empty, except for Telsha, and everyone would be asleep. Whatever happened at Kerberos clearly wasn’t normal, Keith didn’t know what happened or why, but he’s going to make whoever took Shiro give him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To make it clear, Telsha is Sam Holt's dragon, Shiro and Matt do not yet have dragons, and Gardi is Sargent Gloveled's dragon.


End file.
